eSignature Legality in Argentina

E-Signature Legality Summary

This guide explains the electronic-signature framework in Argentina, including the governing laws, legal effect, accepted signature methods, validity requirements, exclusions and practical business uses.

Applicable Laws

Digital Signature Law No. 25,506 (2001)

Legal Status

Electronic records and signatures receive legal recognition in Argentina under Digital Signature Law No. 25,506 (2001). The signing process must also satisfy every document-specific rule on identity, evidence, delivery, retention, witnessing, notarization, registration or filing.

Regulatory Authority

The competent regulator is the Secretariat of Modernization of Argentina.

Legal Recognition (Effect)

The legal effect of an electronic signature is assessed under Digital Signature Law No. 25,506 (2001). The assessment covers signer intent, reliable attribution, integrity of the signed record and compliance with every prescribed form for the document or transaction.

Accepted Types of Electronic Signatures

Digital signature

Digital signature: the result of applying a mathematical procedure to a digital document, requiring information known to and under the sole control of the signer. A digital signature must be verifiable by third parties, so that such verification can simultaneously identify the signer's identity and detect any change to the digital document after signing. The signing and verification procedures used for this purpose shall be determined by the implementing authority in accordance with current international technical standards. (Article 2 of the Digital Signature Law)

Effect:

• Presumption of authorship, unless there is evidence to the contrary (Article 7 of the Digital Signature Law)
• A digital signature is required to be created with a certificate issued or recognized by a licensed certification authority (Article 9 of the Digital Signature Law)
• For instruments generated electronically, if a digital signature is used, the requirement of a personal signature is satisfied, ensuring the authorship and integrity of the instrument. (Article 288 of the Civil Code)
• Electronic signature: a set of electronic data integrated, linked or logically associated with other electronic data, used to identify the signer, but lacking any of the legal requirements to be considered a digital signature. If an electronic signature is disputed, the person invoking it bears the burden of proving its validity. (Article 5 of the Digital Signature Law)

Legal Requirements for Electronic Signatures

Effect:

A legally effective signing process should preserve evidence of:

• the signer's intention to sign and the parties' consent to use an electronic process;
• reliable identification and attribution of the signature to the signer;
• integrity of the signed record and detection of later changes;
• delivery of, access to and reproduction of the final signed record;
• timestamps, authentication events and a complete audit trail; and
• every certificate, witness, notarization, registration, filing or retention requirement that governs the transaction.

Limitations and Exceptions

• benefits acquired by reason of death;
• legal acts of family law;
• documents relating to personal inherent rights or obligations (derechos personalisimos) (legal acts that can only be performed by the party in person and cannot be executed by a representative, such as entering into marriage, divorce, making a will, etc.)
• acts that, by law or by agreement of the parties, must be carried out in accordance with requirements or formalities incompatible with the use of a digital signature. (Article 4 of the Digital Signature Law)

Article 46 of Circular Resolution No. 818/2019 of the National Securities Commission: when submitting electronic filings to the National Securities Commission (CNV), such as amendments to company bylaws, a digital signature (firma digital) must be used.

Industry Applications and Typical Use Cases

Electronic signatures support commercial contracts, sales and procurement, employment documentation, internal approvals and customer onboarding when the governing document and sector rules are satisfied.

For regulated or cross-border workflows, record the governing law, required assurance level, signer-authentication method, evidence package, retention period and receiving-party requirements before launch.